Some of the best episodes of Star Trek TNG wouldn't have been made if Gene Roddenberry had his way

Key conclusions

• Fans saved Star Trek from cancellation, leading to an animated series and the first movie.
• Paramount wanted Roddenberry out of The Next Generation (TNG), but eventually brought him back.
• Despite​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​initial strict rules, the restrictions of Roddenberry´s TNG were eventually broken to improve the storylines.

If Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) was canceled in 1969, fans of the show thought they would never see the crew of the Enterprise again. But the fans themselves made sure that this did not happen. The series was so popular in syndication that Paramount developed a second one Star Trek series: Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS). Although TAS Lasted only a season and a half, continuing interest in Star Trek led to the development of a second live show. This eventually turned into the first Star Trek movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

As the show approached its 20th anniversary in 1986, Paramount decided to launch a brand new Star Trek series. According to Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Mission ContinuesParamount wanted to develop a new show without Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the franchise, at the helm. Roddenberry, who was fiercely protective of his creative vision and whose personal attorney was best described as a ruthless shark, was always difficult for the studio to work with. After much thought, the studio decided that it was impossible to do Star Trek without Roddenberry. So they took him on board for the new series that would become Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).

Roddenberry Rules

In his uniform, Roddenberry took creative control of the new show as soon as the ink was dry on his contract. To make sure the new show would live up to his vision to his high standards, Roddenberry brought in several of his loyal writers from TOS to help develop the show.

If the Writer's Guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation was completed, it included several pages of rules about what not to do on the show, a list that was unofficially called the Roddenberry Rules. Several writers who worked on TNG said that any script that didn't follow Roddenberry's rules was immediately rejected, regardless of its quality. This led to a lot of conflict in the writer's room, especially because even Roddenberry's most loyal writers disagreed with some of his rules for the show.

As it turned out, there were good reasons for the disagreement. If the writers had strictly followed all of Roddenberry's rules, some of the most beloved episodes PNG would not exist.

Rule #1: Don't TOS Characters or their descendants

One of the things that Roddenberry particularly insisted on was not including characters from The original series. The PNG'with The writer's guide states:

How much we love our original lineup […] we need our audience's attention focused on our new heroes.

Roddenberry believed that the guest appearances of the original characters would overshadow it PNP characters, and he was sure it would doom the new series. This belief was not unfounded. Trekkies have already made it clear that they are not happy about the news Star Trek with a different character set. They were so displeased that when word of the new show leaked out, they actually picketed outside Paramount Studios. Trek fans are nothing if not dedicated. So all the familiar faces from TOS were forbidden PNP stories – although Roddenberry broke his own rule PNP the very first episode in which Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy made a cameo appearance.

Avoiding TOS superstars may have been necessary in the early seasons as Trekkies met and learned to love the new characters. But it didn't make sense when the show was created. Fortunately, screenwriters understood this and began to write episodic roles for the most loved ones TOS symbols. If it weren't for that, fans would never have gotten the wonderful Sarek, Reunion Parts 1 & 2, and Relics series.

Rule #2: No volcanoes

In the same spirit as the ban on TOS symbols, this Roddenberry rule was codified in one very clear statement:

We are determined not to copy ourselves and believe that in a galaxy filled with billions of stars and planets, there must be other interesting aliens.

The feeling is right; you can't argue with that. Not relying on stories about Vulcans, writers PNG were forced to imagine some strange new species. To date, over 300 alien species have been spotted or mentioned in the franchise. But that would happen even with some Vulcan-centric episodes. And apparently the “don't copy yourself” principle only applied to the characters, because a few early episodes PNG there were remixes TOS episodes.

The PNG the writers followed this rule quite well, and PNG appears Star Trek show with the fewest volcanoes. But they broke the rule for the aforementioned Sarek and Reunion Parts 1 and 2, and fans are glad they did.

Rule #3: Don't conflict with Klingons or Romulans

Roddenberry did not outright ban Klingons and Romulans PNG as he did with the Vulcans, but he insisted that the writers stay away from stories about the Federation's conflicts with those species. Although this prohibition was partly motivated by not relying on the same concepts as and TOSit was more motivated by Roddenberry's idealistic vision of the 24th century. He believed that by then, 100 years after the first crew of the Enterprise, the Federation would not be engaged in a large-scale conflict with an entire species, especially one as familiar as the Klingons and Romulans.

However, the writers broke that rule pretty early on, for at least one of those species. Since the Klingons were allied with the Federation in the 24th century and there was a Klingon on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, the Klingons could not be the main antagonists in PNG. But the Romulans could, and they make such good villains. Thus, by the end of PNP the first season.

By the third season, the ban on conflict with the Klingons had also been lifted. Although they remained allies of the Federation, several incredible episodes featured tense clashes with the Klingons that hinted that the peace was fragile.

List of episodes that would be excluded from PNG if this rule was followed, huge. Some of the best include “A Matter Of Honor”, “Redemption, Parts 1 & 2”, “Birthright, Parts 1 & 2”, “The Mind's Eye”, “The Defector” and “Face Of The Enemy”.

Rule #4: Follow the Prime Directive

Roddenberry was adamant that Starfleet should avoid interfering with the natural development of species and cultures on other worlds. This instruction was mentioned but rarely followed in the TOS. U png, however, Roddenberry insisted that it should be upheld. In fact, he was so insistent that the rule in the universe formerly known as General Order One became the Prime Directive.

However, minds behind PNG soon discovered that forcing the crew of the Enterprise to decide whether to obey the Prime Directive made for compelling stories. Should the crew obey the Prime Directive if it meant destroying the entire planet? Should they break it to prevent genocide? In the second season, the Prime Directive became a frequent source of dramatic tension PNG episodes, and Captain Picard made the decision to break it on a surprisingly frequent basis.

The screenwriters made the right decision by breaking this Roddenberry rule. If it weren't for that, fans would miss out on great episodes like Pen Pals, Who's Watching Watchers, and Homecoming.

Although Roddenberry had good reasons for most of his strict rules about what not to introduce PNGthe writers eventually proved that most of them could be broken without harming the success of the show. And in the end, the fans benefited from this decision.

Sources: Writer's Guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Mission Continues